Case Study RWTH University

The Assignment

RWTH Aachen is Germany’s largest research and technical university located in Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia. With over 40,000 students, it numbers amongst its alumni several scientists who won Nobel Prizes for physics or chemistry.

With an increasing number of students graduating year on year, the university wanted to ensure that it had a sufficient number of classrooms to provide an optimal learning environment for its students. To meet this need, RWTH constructed a purpose-built teaching facility to accommodate up to 4,200 students.

On top of this, the university sought a separate auditorium to provide soundproofed lecture facilities for a further 1,000 students on a site located near a railway track.

The Solution

Neptunus specified one of its semi-permanent Evolution structures for the auditorium. Despite being a re-locatable building, the Evolution has the appearance and functionality of a permanent building. Equipped with central heating, air conditioning and a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), the structure contains all the features needed to create a comfortable environment for students.

The modular nature of the Evolution allows it to be easily modified or re-deployed at any point in the future. At the same time, the aluminium structure is strong, stable and durable - capable of withstanding the harshest of conditions and offering the same safety standards as a permanent building.

Based on a highly technical and innovative design with durable components, the Evolution is suitable for longer-term use. The building comes as standard with insulated, rigid wall panels to retain heat and minimise external noise plus an aluminium space-frame roof for a quick and simple installation.

The Challenge

RWTH Aachen was looking to solve their capacity problems. It was of upmost importance that 1000 students could be accommodated in a lecture hall within a short period of time. The chosen location of the hall was near a railroad track. Given the function of the room, it was essential that this accommodation is soundproof.

The Verdict

“The auditorium is situated right next to a train track so we needed optimal soundproof walls,” says the project leader at the RWTH Aachen. “Despite the capacity challenges we want to continue providing our students with the best possible surroundings to assist their education. Neptunus was without doubt the perfect partner to help us with our capacity problem and they provided us with the ideal solution.”